


into the ruins

by schwarzvelt



Category: Shin Megami Tensei Series, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Genre: Backstory, Biracial Character, Military Backstory, Other, idk what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schwarzvelt/pseuds/schwarzvelt
Summary: Langdon Hitonari reflects on his life before entering the enigmatic Schwarzvelt.
Kudos: 10





	into the ruins

**Author's Note:**

> since in the japanese version he's japanese and in the localization he's american, i decided to make him japanese-american and combine two of his non-canon names, hence langdon hitonari

The most vivid childhood memory Langdon Hitonari has is his face buried into the mulch of the school playground, being kicked by another child.

Why he was being beaten up, he can't remember exactly, but he does remember that his attacker was a friend of his and all this was over him being asked to pick a side for something. The details elude him, but two of his friends were fighting about something childish and wanted him to take sides, didn't, and got beat up for it. It was a surprisingly bloody fight for a bunch of children. 

It was the first time he was ever called into the principal's office. It was the first time the school had to personally call home. He remembered climbing into the car at the end of the school day and felt his mother's stern gaze through the rear-view mirror. 

He wasn't sure why he was remembering this now. 

Langdon Hitonari was an adult. After highschool, he had joined the military and became one of the best soldiers in the U.S Army, or so the higher-ups thought, since the U.N picked him specifically to venture into the depths of the Schwarzwelt. 

A strange journey it would be, he thought. 

\---------------------------------------------

In truth, his transition into military life had not been so clean. While it was true he joined the military after highschool, he joined a community college as a last ditch effort to find something to devote his life to before he put it on the line. 

He took a variety of classes on different subjects and the only one that would ever matter would be Intro to Religion, a freshman course.

On his mother's side, there were devout Roman Catholics, and on his father's, devout Buddhists. The Hitonari household, however, was irreligious. Despite their family's piety, neither his father nor mother seemed religious and the topic was rarely, if ever, brought up. When visiting his mother's family for Christmas, he was brought to church but zoned out of the service and never sang. When he visited his father's family in Japan for New Year's, he was brought to the temple but the traditions were lost on him. Prayer never came easy to him in either case. 

Intro to Religion was special because it was one of the only times he ever thought extensively on religion, and his relationship with it, barring Christmas and New Year's. He knew there was some sort of depth to religion -- there had to be for so many people to believe in it, right? -- but didn't realize just how deep it went, despite its background presence (or lack thereof) in his life. While it was the most significant of his classes to him, it wouldn't be enough to deter him from joining the military. 

And when he joined the military, religion would ironically become even more present in his life. Many of his fellow soldiers were religious. Many of his commanders, and various higher-ups, were religious. To Hitonari, it was bizarre. Did they not realize what their job was? Was it to cope? Or did they think their side of the war was justified by their faith? 

Years down the road, Hitonari would become a decorated war hero. Medals, lots of them. The details of the medals, or why he earned them, did not matter to him. When he returned home, his parents made the first reference to God in years --- that God had blessed their little boy, thank God he was alive, he was a hero. The same comments came rolling in from old classmates, friends, neighbors, and family members.

Langdon Hitonari did not believe he was a hero. 

One of the things he noticed once aboard the Red Sprite were the occasional crewman muttering a prayer that their mission would be successful, and others who weren't praying were still making some sort of religious references before their departure. He expected it. This time it wasn't as strange to him. 

It wasn't that Hitonari was completely faithless, just not religious. He certainly didn't deny the existence of God, but his faith more or less lay in the spirit of humanity which, he thought, more or less had come from God or belief in God. 

He would not realize how strained his nebulous faith would become when he finally ventured into the Schwarzvelt.


End file.
